Should your law firm site explain Google Business Profile so AI assistants cite you?

The profile that disappeared over a keyword

A solo attorney adds Best Personal Injury Lawyer NYC to the business name on Google Business Profile, and the profile gets suspended. The name was not a lie, and the firm really does handle personal injury cases in New York, but Google does not allow keywords in the business name, and the suspension is automatic. The firm loses its map listing, its reviews, and its calls, all over a name that looked like good marketing. That is the first rule of a law firm Google Business Profile: the name is the legal name, and nothing else.

Google treats lawyers as individual practitioners, which is a distinction that confuses most firms. A law firm gets a firm profile, and each attorney can also have a separate practitioner profile, with the attorney name only. A solo attorney at a branded firm shares one profile with the firm, rather than having two. Getting that structure wrong is how a firm ends up with duplicate listings, or with a practitioner profile that Google merges into the firm profile without warning.

Categories, and why Lawyer is the wrong one

The primary category should be as specific as the practice: Personal Injury Attorney, not Lawyer. Criminal Justice Attorney, not Attorney. Family Law Attorney, not Law Firm. Google allows up to nine secondary categories, and those should cover the other practice areas, but the primary category is the one that decides which searches the profile shows up for. A firm that picks Lawyer as its primary category is competing with every lawyer in the city, and a firm that picks Personal Injury Attorney is competing with the firms that do that work.

The categories should match the website, the practice area pages, and the reviews. A profile that says Personal Injury Attorney while the website talks about estate planning will not rank well for either, because Google reads the mismatch as a signal that the firm does not know what it does. Consistency across the profile, the site, and the reviews is what makes the listing stick.

Reviews, and the two rulebooks that govern them

Reviews are governed by two rulebooks at once: the state bar rules and Google's own rules, and they do not always agree. The ABA Model Rules cover the bar side: Rule 7.1 forbids false or misleading communications, Rule 7.2 forbids giving value for a recommendation, and Rule 7.3 covers solicitation. Most state bars allow asking a client for a review, but forbid incentives, which means no discount, no gift, and no payment in exchange for one.

Google's rules are stricter in one direction and looser in another. Google bans incentives, selective asking, and discouraging negative reviews, which means a firm cannot ask only its happy clients, and cannot tell an unhappy client not to leave a review. Texas adds its own layer: Rule 7.04 requires filing advertisements with the Advertising Review Committee within 10 days. Utah went the other way and deleted Rules 7.2 through 7.5, leaving only Rule 7.1, effective May 1, 2024, plus a 30-day no-contact rule after an injury, death, or disaster. A firm that asks for reviews without knowing its state's rules is risking a bar complaint and a Google suspension at the same time.

The profile is a practice page, not a billboard

A Google Business Profile for a law firm is not a billboard, and the firms that treat it like one get suspended. The name is the legal name. The categories are the practice areas. The reviews are earned, not bought, and not filtered. The posts are updates about the firm, not advertisements. A profile that follows those rules stays live, ranks for the searches that matter, and brings in the calls that a billboard never would. The firms that get suspended are usually the ones that tried to game the name or the reviews, and the suspension costs more than the game was ever worth.

Related reading

If this topic is useful, these earlier guides go deeper on connected questions: Should your law firm site explain contingency fees so AI assistants cite you?, Should your law firm site explain retainer agreements so AI assistants cite you?, and Should your law firm site explain practice area pages so AI assistants cite you?.

Frequently asked questions

Can a law firm have more than one Google Business Profile?

Yes, in a specific structure. Google treats lawyers as individual practitioners, so a firm gets a firm profile and each attorney can have a separate practitioner profile with the attorney name only. A solo attorney at a branded firm shares one profile with the firm. Duplicate firm profiles for the same practice will get merged or suspended.

Can I put keywords in my law firm business name on Google?

No. Google does not allow keywords in the business name, and adding them can get the profile suspended. The name must be the legal business name. Put the practice area in the primary category instead, for example Personal Injury Attorney rather than Lawyer, and use the secondary categories for the other practice areas.

Can a law firm ask clients for Google reviews?

Most state bars allow asking, but forbid incentives: no discount, no gift, and no payment in exchange for a review. Google also bans incentives, selective asking, and discouraging negative reviews, which means you cannot ask only your happy clients. Texas requires filing ads with the Advertising Review Committee within 10 days, and Utah has a 30-day no-contact rule after an injury, death, or disaster.

What category should a personal injury firm pick on Google?

Personal Injury Attorney, not Lawyer or Law Firm. The primary category should be as specific as the practice, and Google allows up to nine secondary categories for the other practice areas. A specific primary category is what decides which searches the profile shows up for.